Buzz Lightyear
"The world's greatest superhero, now the world's greatest toy!" Buzz Lightyear is one of the main protagonists in the Disney/Pixar film franchise, Toy Story. ''Introduced as the "coolest toy ever", his multitude of high tech features intimidated Sheriff Woody. Since 1995, countless hordes of Buzz Lightyear action figures have been manufactured, more than any other character from the franchise. The original license holder, Thinkway Toys, released the ''Ultimate Talking Action Figure ''incarnation, alongside his counterpart the ''Poseable Pull String Talking ''Woody doll. Thinkway continues to manufacture full size figures, including the highly popular Toy Story Signature Collection. Over the years, other manufacturers, including Mattel and Hasbro, have also released 12" Buzz figures. Mattel is also notable for their line of ''relative scale figures, with Buzz generally falling in the 6" range. Packaging Buzz comes packaged in an ornately detailed box designed after a spaceship. It features the Buzz Lightyear logo proudly displayed on the front, and two cardboard wings located on either side. Buzz can be seen through a transparent plastic sheet on the "Cockpit", and, as seen in Toy Story 2, the box opens from the bottom, through which a secondary cardboard tray is removed. Buzz is attached with four total twist ties at the wrists and ankles. Buzz is completely inaccessible without opening the package, which brings to mind the question of why the figure has a demo mode at all. Appearance Buzz is an approximately 12" tall action figure manufactured in the mid-1990's. His high quality construction includes a variety of action features and multiple materials. The majority of his body is made from durable plastic, likely ABS, while the black sections of his shoulders and waist are separate, soft plastic parts (often mistaken for rubber, this is actually PVC treated with plasticizers for a soft consistency, sometimes called vinyl.) These allow for a much greater range of motion than hard plastic would. To date, no real-life figure features the shoulder sections in this material, though the Signature Collection version does feature a rubberized waist. The helmet is made either from transparent ABS or, more likely, polycarbonate. Buzz features ball jointed shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and feet. These are attached by metal pins through the grey jointed sections, and the hips, shoulders, and knees appear to be supplemented by a form of ratchet joint, judging by his ability to stand without toppling easily in toy mode. His head appears to swivel, although it too may be on a ball joint. His fingers move individually at the first knuckle, and his thumb is on a small ball joint, allowing for versatility in posing. He features a battery compartment located in the back half of his torso, hidden by his wing pack. To access it, one must remove the two screws located on his wing pack, and swing it downwards, as it's attached to the main body by a hinge. Buzz requires two AA batteries to power his electronics, and also features a mode selection switch with settings for demo and play, and a reset button which will change the voice sampler to Spanish audio. Sliding the switch from play to demo will return him to his original factory settings. What these settings may be, and how they would change over time, seeing as there seems to be no difference in his toy features in the 10 years between Toy Story ''and ''Toy Story 3, is unknown, though this does return him to his original, delusional Space Ranger personality. Features Being the "Coolest toy ever", Buzz has a wide variety of action features and gimmicks. Pulsating Laser Light The large red button on Buzz's right arm activates his laser. The LED in his forearm blinks and a looping sound effect plays as long as the button is depressed. There appears to be at least four different sound effects heard in the movies, possibly indicating different targeting modes. Karate Chop Action The purple turbine button located on Buzz's wingpack activates his karate chop action. A geared mechanism moves the right arm downwards and then back to it's original position when the button is depressed. This does not appear to impede his articulation or laser in any capacity. Exactly how this feature works and does not interfere with the operation of the wings is unexplained. The exposed portion of Buzz's torso seen in Toy Story 3 does not show any signs of the mechanism involved. High-Pressure Space Wings The large red button on Buzz's left side deploys his wings from their pack. The wings swing upward and out whilst extending, and, at their maximum length, feature red and green navigation lights, similar to aircraft and marine vessels. These lights blink in time with each other so that only one of each is visible at a time. Though Buzz uses the same button to retract them while "alive", this is never seen when he is in toy mode, so it is entirely possible that they must be manually retracted and Buzz simply operates them as an extension of his body, and so, exercises complete control over their position. Like the karate chop, the mechanism for this is never explained and seemingly is physically impossible given what is seen of the back of his torso. Retractable Helmet Buzz's helmet is fully retractable using the purple button located on the right side of his helmet. This causes both halves to swing downward into the torso, leaving only about an inch of each exposed on the back side of his suit. Again, this seemingly contradicts the other features we see demonstrated. There is simply no way for the helmet to fit in the same space as the batteries, wing mechanism, and karate chop mechanism. Additionally, this would likely take up so much space in his chest cavity that it would not even allow for the chip or speaker for the voice simulator. I hope somebody got fired for that ''blunder. Wrist Communicator Buzz's left forearm features a locking wrist communicator, which flips up to reveal a sticker. This doesn't offer any other features beyond providing imaginative potential. Ironically, despite being the simplest feature of the on-screen toy, this is one that is almost always excluded. Thinkway's Intergalactic Buzz Lightyear and it's repaint, the Infinity Edition Buzz, both featured a communicator with lights and sounds, and Mattel's Flight Control and Night Control Buzz featured the same, but almost every other toy from that time period lacked it. It wasn't until the Toy Story Collection figure was released that a Buzz featured the communicator with the sticker seen in the movie, and even then, Thinkway's cheaper Buzz figure's excluded it. As of ''Toy Story 4, the only current figures that feature this are the Signature Collection Buzz, and the Disney Store exclusive Interactive figure. Multi-phrase Voice Simulator Pressing any of the three thin buttons on Buzz's right side activates his voice simulator. There is seemingly no difference in the clips played depending on the button pressed. It's also possible that the sound system includes communicator noises, as various noises which could ''pass for technological bleeps are heard during the gas station fight between Woody and Buzz in ''Toy Story. These are seemingly not used for comic effect as the sound design in the movies tends to stay fairly realistic. In the first three movies, Buzz's voicebox is used scarcely, with only three total voice clips being heard in the trilogy. These are as follows. * Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! * There's a secret mission in uncharted space. Let's go! * To infinity and beyond. Additionally, there is a discrepancy in the uncharted space line. During the Buzz Lightyear commercial, the voicebox plays only "There's a secret mission in uncharted space." Leaving the "Let's go!" portion excluded. This applies to both the figure in the commercial and Andy's Buzz. Later, when Woody encounters Buzz in the persona of Mrs. Nesbit, the additional "Let's go!" can be heard. This can be chalked up to a discrepancy in editing, though it's possible that the figure is meant to have two variations of the line. Additionally, Toy Story 3 and 4'' feature a significant audio filter over the clips, emulating the sound technology of 1990's action figures, so that Buzz now sounds very similar to the audio quality of the original action figure. In any case, ''Toy Story 4, perhaps making up for 20 years of unused potential, features a massive amount of phrases, roughly 25, as part of Buzz's "Inner voice" gag, wherein he consults his internal voicebox for direction after misunderstanding Woody's discussion of his conscience. This also includes re-recorded versions of the lines heard in the original movies. It is likely that this can be considered a retcon, effectively re-writing the existence of the lines heard previously, instead of assuming that Buzz features several different versions of the same voice line. The editing and inconsistency of the order of these clips makes it appear that Buzz's voicebox functions on a "shuffle" feature, much like the original Thinkway action figure, wherein the clips play in a semi-random order instead of in a set, consistent order each time the voice simulator is activated. Additional voice clips heard in this film include: (Listed in no particular order.) This list is incomplete as of yet due to clips being played in rapid succession in the third act, cutting each other off. Some are completely indecipherable due to background noise and orchestrations. * It's a secret mission in uncharted space. Let's go! * No time to explain, attack! * The slingshot maneuver's all we got. Full speed ahead! * This planet is toxic. Closing helmet to conserve oxygen * Meteor shower, look out! * We're going home, Space Ranger. * Time to fly. * Go! * Exit the cockpit. * Get out! * Retreat! There's too many of them. * Fall back, this planet is... (Indecipherable) * Mission accomplished, return to base. * Returning to Star Command. * Scanning Perimeter * Laser at full power * Full speed ahead! * Open the pod bay doors. * It's just you and me now, cadet. * A distress signal's coming from that rocket. * Shields to maximum! * Prepare for hypersleep. * Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! * I am Buzz Lightyear. * To infinity, and beyond! Additionally, the Animated Storybook for Toy Story features a "Virtual Buzz Lightyear" toy which contains phrases not spoken by Buzz in any of the movies. These are, essentially, non-canon, considering the Storybook itself is full of fourth-wall breaking humor and other elements that directly contradict the movie. They're listed here for completeness' sake. * Activate glider wings. * Do you glow in the dark? * All in a day's work for Buzz Lightyear * Danger, young friend. * Buzz Lightyear is here to protect you. * Look out, Space Ranger, the One-Eyed Hordes of Goth! * Look out, Space Ranger, Evil Zurg at four o'clock! * Let justice triumph and evil beware. * Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! * It's a secret mission, in uncharted space. Let's go. * To infinity and beyond! * Time for excitement, time for adventure, time for Buzz Lightyear. Adittionally, clicking on his Space Ranger logo will cause him to recite his "I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion..." spiel. Glow-in-the-Dark Trim Lastly, Buzz features glow in the dark paint on all of the green trim of his suit. This paint is incredibly light sensitive and glows extremely brightly, such that it is able to project light strong enough to illuminate his surroundings. Toys 'Toy Story (1995)' : Buzz Lightyear Ultimate Talking Action Figure ' : The original talking Buzz Lightyear by Thinkway. Initially released in a rush to meet the deadline of the movie's release, Buzz features only a handful of the gimmicks from the movie. Additionally, though the figure was constructed using the digital data as a reference, it was not built directly from said digital data and features many inaccuracies. Additionally, in the pursuit of both cost-effectiveness and time constraints, he uses much more standard buttons for his features instead of the more specialized and movie accurate button sculpts found on later figures. : He has ball jointed shoulders, wrists that can swivel in and out, swivel wrists, swivel-hinged hips, and soft-ratcheted knees and ankles. The original figure can easily be differentiated from other versions by the complete lack of any movement in the head. : His voice sampler buttons are all linked to the same interior button, and thus pressing one is no different from either other. His phrases are as follows, directly ripped from the movie. :* I am Buzz Lightyear. :* I come in peace. :* Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! :* To infinity, and beyond! : His laser makes one solitary sound effect and the light stays lit for the duration of the sound instead of blinking. : Buzz also features the standard movable helmet found on most figures. This is a commonly broken piece, as both the front and back sections tend to crack and come loose over time. : Pressing the red button on his left pectoral will release his wings, as in the movie. These are spring-loaded and pop out from the sides instead of swiveling outwards, they are also about one-third the size of the movie wings, and feature no LED navigation lights. He also features glow-in-the-dark paint on most of his green trim : The figure has been re-released several times, in ''Toy Story 2, and Toy Story and Beyond! ''packaging, generally as the "Original Buzz Lightyear action figure" : This figure was retooled into Intergalactic Buzz Lightyear, its repaint Infinity Edition Buzz Lightyear, the early 2000's Disney Store Exclusive series of Buzz figures, and countless Disney Store and miscellaneous Thinkway releases during the ''Toy Story and Beyond! ''period. : He has Disney/Thinkway sculpted on his butt. '''Intergalactic Buzz Lightyear ' : A retool of the original '95 figure, Intergalactic Buzz features a dark and silver chrome finish over most of his body, in addition to a newly tooled "Space disk firing unit", a pressure firing disk launcher which can attach to Buzz's hand or slot into his newly retooled backpack. : He also features a wrist communicator on a hinge that is also attached by a short string. It features a button that, when pressed, cycles through a variety of soundbites from the movie. These are: *Mayday, mayday, come in Star Command! *Come in, Star Command. *Star Command, do you copy? *Buzz Lightyear to Star Command. Come in, Star Command. : These are all accompanied by various generic communicator noises. The communicator also lights up somewhat synchronously with the sounds. : Additionally, his voice box has been updated. He no longer says "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!", but instead features the following phrases. *I am Buzz Lightyear. *I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion. I come in peace. *To infinity, and beyond! *I come in peace. *I'm stationed up in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector Four. : Like the communicator, his helmet dome lights up in rhythm with his speech. : This version of the figure was redecoed into the Infinity Edition Buzz Lightyear. 'Infinity Edition Buzz Lightyear ' : This figure is functionally identical to the Intergalactic Buzz figure, but returns him to his original color scheme, including the glow-in-the-dark paint. It also includes a collectors certificate. This figure was only available for a limited time, possibly late 1996 or early 1997. '''Toy Story 2 Flight Control Buzz Lightyear ' : Advertised as "The smartest Buzz there ever was!", Flight Control Buzz was released by Mattel in 1999 for ''Toy Story 2, and was the most technologically advanced Buzz available at the time. He's still impressive even by today's technology. : This figure appears to have been constructed using licensed versions of Thinkway's molds for the Intergalactic/Infinity Edition Buzz Lightyear, along with a new headsculpt. : He features the voice of Pat Fraley, the actor who substituted for Tim Allen in most supplemental media during the time of the first two films. : He has a level sensor that tells the figure if he's flying straight, turning, or flying upside down, and allows him to react appropriately. He'll also direct you to fly in certain directions and become frustrated if you don't listen to him. He also has sound effects for pushing his helmet up and down : His phrases include: * I am Buzz Lightyear! * To infinity and beyond! * Approaching lightspeed! * Punch it! * I think we hit a helium planet! * Prepare for night vision. '''Toy Story and Beyond (2000-2008) 'Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear ' : Manufactured by Hasbro beginning in 2001, this version of Buzz is an entirely new sculpt from the previous releases, featuring a myriad of innovations, including chest buttons in a much more accurate shape, a sculpted but otherwise nonfunctional utility belt, and, most importantly, wings that swivel upwards from the backpack instead of popping out from the sides. : His phrases, voiced by Pat Fraley, who voices all of Hasbro's Buzz figures, are as follows *Greetings, I am Buzz Lightyear, I come in peace. *I don't think we're in the Gamma Quadrant anymore. *I have a laser and I'll use it. *Hang on, cowboy! *Anti-gravity belt, standard issue. *Someone's got to stop that Evil Emperor Zurg! *Never tangle with a Space Ranger, my friend. *Look at my impressive wingspan! : True to his word, Buzz features a substantial 12" wingspan, measuring as wide across as the figure is tall. This was a marketing point called out on the figure's packaging. He also features a laser with a variety of sounds and a very squishy head. 'Galactic Defender Buzz Lightyear ' : As the first of many, Galactic Defender Buzz Lightyear is a redeco/retool of the previous Deluxe Electronic Buzz. This time, his green is switched for a pearlescent blue, his purple for a pea green, and his gray and some purple trim for black. His main features are his targeting visor, which pegs onto both sides of his helmet, and his new "Attack Pack" backpack. : The attack pack features no extending wings but instead has a spring-loaded missile launcher in the top activated by pressing a large silver button with the Space Ranger logo on it. : He speaks the following phrases *I am Buzz Lightyear, and adventure is my middle name! *Ooh, how dare you open a spaceman's helmet on an uncharted planet!? *This is an intergalactic emergency, I need to access my attack pack! *Now that's an impressive attack pack. *Targeting visor - check! *I have Zurg in my sights. *Haha, he'll never see this coming. 'Toy Story Collection' 'Buzz Lightyear - Space Ranger ' : The most film-accurate Buzz figure ever produced, the Signature Collection Buzz Lightyear is incredibly impressive. He features two play modes: Toy mode, where his head stays still and he recites a handful of phrases filtered to sound lower quality, and Space Ranger mode, where he "Comes to life" with a moving head, interactive talk back features, and many more lines of dialogue depending on the situtation. : Buzz comes packaged in a mostly accurate representation of his film box, though somewhat squashed and peppered with Toy Story branding and pesky safety warnings. : His many features are his electronic voice sampler, swiveling wings with LED navigation lights and flight sounds, an opening and closing helmet with sound effects and detection, locking electronic wrist communicator, and an LED laser with sound effects. Additionally, his articulation is impressive, only being impeded by the lack of soft plastic on the black arm sockets. : Unfortunately, due to physical constraints he does feature several innaccuracies and issues. His backpack and torso are much too thick, which combined with the weight of the electronics means he has some difficult staying upright. He features no karate chop action, again, due to the amount of electronics, he omits the toy phrase "There's a secret mission in uncharted space, let's go." and also omits many others from Toy Story 4, ''which was released many years after the toy was first designed. 'Buzz Lightyear with NEW Utility Belt : This Buzz is representative of the Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story 2, with the Anti-Gravity Utility Belt. He features almost all of his phrases either reecorded with a more aggressive, boisterous tone, or replaced entirely with different voice lines when in Space Ranger mode, presumably to fit the somewhat more arrogant, action hero personality Utility Belt Buzz exhibits. : His Utility Belt is vacuum metallized, lights up and he has new sound effects and voice lines to make full use of it. His toy mode phrases now include "There's a secret mission in uncharted space.". '''Toy Story 4 (2019) Buzz Lightyear with Interactive Drop-Down Action : The flagship Buzz figure of the Toy Story 4 line, Drop-Down action Buzz is visually similar to Thinkway's earlier, mid-range Buzz Lightyear figures from the Toy Story 3 era, with visible, inaccurate screw holes on his rear and several minor physical inaccuracies. : His main gimmick is his ability to recognize specific voice commands and either switch to "Toy mode" and drop down, or "Come alive", with a moving head. Due to the gimmick, the figure features no leg articulation, and it cannot stand up on its own. : He is voiced by an actor that is not Tim Allen, nor Pat Fraley, the usual substitute for Buzz's voice, and features over 65 sayings. : His four voice commands are as follows :* Hello buddy! (Activates his live mode if he has been in power save mode. He'll greet you :* Someone's coming! (Causes the toy to drop-down and revert to "Toy mode") :* Quiet, go to sleep (Similar to the previous, toy drops down and goes into power save mode) :* Okay, no one's here (Figure reverts back to live mode with moving head. He'll request your assistance in standing up again.) : The manual recommends training Buzz to recognize your voice, much like the virtual assistants found on smartphones. : Despite his price point, he lacks many of the basic features that one would come to expect on a high end Buzz Lightyear. He features no laser light or sounds, his wings must be manually operated by pulling them out, and he features very limited articulation, mostly in his arms, his shoulders swivel, his elbows move in and out, and his wrists swivel. : Buzz Lightyear Talking Action Figure :The basic Buzz Lightyear talking figure for Toy Story 4. This figure has been created using molds previously used for Toy Story 3 ''for budget action figures released in smaller countries and in America in drugstores and supermarkets. He speaks over 20 phrases newly recorded by Tim Allen. :* '''The slingshot maneuver's all we've got! Alright, full speed ahead!' :* Alright cadet, are you ready for adventure? :* There's a secret mission, in uncharted space. Let's go. :* We make a great team, cadet. :* Alright, running laser diagnostics... Yes sir! Blinky and bright! :* Greetings, I'm Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger. :* I come in peace. :* And if I might say, the coolest space toy ever. :* This place needs my protection! Who's in charge here? :* Look out! (Beeping followed by laser sounds) :* Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! :* We've got a secret mission in a strange antique store. :* I know, sounds strange, but don't worry, everything's fine. :* Have you seen Forky? Where'd he go? :* Maybe we should check the trash again, hehe. :* Hey, look, I'm Captain Bubblehead! Hahaha. :* Fear is not in my vocabulary. :* Well, I know what the word means, it's just that it doesn't - never mind. :* Let's go save some toys. :* To infinity and beyond! (Flying noises) :* I heard there's a carnival in town, time to check it out. : He features swivel articulation in his shoulders, wrists, waist, and head, and a rotating helmet visor that locks into either position. Of note is that he features very few paint applications - most of his body is composed of individual pieces molded in their respective color and assembled together, even his feet are composed of three pieces, with the sole, toe, and lower leg all being separate, screwed together parts. : Buzz Lightyear Deluxe Space Ranger Talking Action Figure :A mid range, Amazon exclusive figure, This Buzz is similar to the basic Buzz featured above, but has pop-out wings and 30 phrases. Unfortunately, information on this figure is very scarce, and it's unknown at this time what exactly his phrases are, though from the commercial, it appears to be the same non-Tim-Allen actor who voices the Drop-Down Buzz figure. Category:Characters